All American Bake Off
by Cjgwynne
Summary: Meredith Grey is a surgeon in Seattle who has a hidden talent, baking. Her siblings entered her into the All American Bake-off, a show to decide who is the best baker in America, which just happens to have a very attractive judge. Derek Shepherd is a chef and restaurateur who has been called in to help out his sister on his show, but he finds he likes more than the baked goods.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Meredith Grey was a walking contradiction. She was small and skinny yet still had her womanly curves. Her long dirty blonde hair gave no indication to how smart she actually was, and her job as a surgeon hid very well the fact that she was an exceedingly talented baker.

Not many except Merediths close family knew about her hidden secret. Her little sister Lexie could never understand why it was something she didn't want people to know about. However her brother Alex, no relation by blood but of a strong bond since their internship, completely got it. Meredith had to fight tooth and nail to gain her position as head of neurosurgery at Seattle Grace, which is not only the second-best teaching hospital in the country but also the same place where her mother, the late Ellis Grey, had pioneered many a surgical technique and established herself as one of the first great women pioneers in surgery. Alex knew that if Merediths soft side was shown at the hospital she would take a big hit to the reputation she made for herself.

With this knowledge is cam as a shock to Meredith that Lexie and Alex were now pestering her non-stop.

"Leave me alone, guys. It's not funny anymore"

"But Mer, there's nothing funny about it" Lexie said, whilst trailing after her older sister like a puppy.

"Yeah Mer, we aren't kidding, it's a good opportunity for you to get away" Alex backed Lexie up, without the same persistence that the younger Grey held.

Meredith stopped what she where she was in the aisle of the supermarket and turned to face her annoying family members with an exasperated expression on her face.

"So tell me, why exactly would a baking contest help me, a surgeon, who has almost reached a groundbreaking discovery in her clinical trial, get away?" She said sarcastically. " oh yeah, that's right it won't, I do not need any more distractions, I haven't been on my game recently and I need to step it up."

"Pfft what groundbreaker is that you're talking about?" Alex remarked as they continued to follow Meredith down the aisle.

Lexie whacked him in the chest before they almost bumped into Meredith after she had stopped again rather abruptly after his comment.

"Excuse me?" Meredith said, narrowing her eyes at her brother.

"He didn't mean that Mer. Alex shut up." Said Lexie with a look that only a grey woman could muster. "What he meant Mer was that you have been asking the same questions in your research for the past three months now, maybe you've hit a dead end?" She finished timidly.

"Dead end…" Meredith said with an eerily quiet, "dead end? Do you not think I know that?" Her voice got louder, starting to gain stares from other shoppers. " I do not need some resident" she looked at her sister, " or a pediatric surgeon to tell me the NEURO surgeon that I've hit a dead end! That's why I've been working my ass off for three months trying to fix the holes in my trial, I know it hasn't been working, I know that better than anyone, okay. So I suggest if you two want a lift home and you want to be fed tonight, I'd shut up right about now." She finished just as she'd run out of breath after her rant.

Alex and Lexie continued to follow Meredith, but this time choosing to remain silent as she picked out various food items she knew they needed for their very bare fridge at home. All three being doctors meant that there was very rarely time for their house to be stocked full with food, as they never knew when they'd be home to eat it and this way they could avoid it going off. But this week the three doctors had exceeded their 80-hour limit at the hospital, and Alex's girlfriends birthday was coming up and he had asked his fake sister to make her a surprise birthday cake.

When they had reached home, Meredith took the bags into the kitchen refusing help from the others. Meredith sighed, as she unloaded their groceries, her brain going over the endless possibilities of how to fix her trial. Maybe she did need to take a step back to evaluate, take a vacation to come up with fresh ideas. She hadn't made any progress with her work in a very long time, not since she lost her last patient in the trial, almost 4 months ago. Plus she did love baking, it gave her a sort of achievement which was always consistent, not like surgery which could be unpredictable and result in the worst possible consequences. When Meredith baked she could always produce something that tasted amazing and looks like something out of a magazine. Truth be told if Meredith had had her way she would have been a baker rather than go to med school in the first place. But her mother, being her mother, refused to consider anything other than life as a surgeon for her daughter, let alone a lowly baker. So Meredith had never even brought it up to her, knowing what the answer would have been.

With the last of the ingredients put away, she noticed one of her sneaky siblings had left the flyer that had caused such disagreements between her family members on the side. A 10-week baking competition, which would challenge bakers to their limits to produce things they had never done before, all to get a grand prize of $100,000 and the prestigious title of America's best baker. Not to mention meet some of the best bakers in the industry. If she were to enter this contest it wouldn't be for the prizes, money wasn't an issue, despite what people thought of her being a 30 year old woman still having roommates. She had been on a six figure salary for the past two years, and her house was long since paid off considering it was her mothers originally.

No if she were to go for it, she would do it for the serenity that baking gave her, the peace she felt in the kitchen all whilst having the competitive edge of being able to beat others in something she excelled at. She smiled to herself, she was a competitive surgeon at heart and therefore in everything else she did.

"Why so happy Mer?" Alex said as he walked in.

"Am I not allowed to be happy just because?" She snapped, her day dream long forgotten.

"Gee Mer, just asking, look if you won't do the contest, maybe consider taking some sort or vacation? Or at least get laid, you're so uptight"

"I'm not uptight" Meredith huffed.

"Okay okay you're not uptight." But in a tone which made Meredith think that he didn't really believe her. "Hey Mer, Jo likes chocolate cake, and she's never had anyone make her something homemade before with her crapy childhood and whatever, so could you do something special?"

Meredith laughed, "So now you lack faith in my abilities?"

"What no? It's just I love her and I want to make her first birthday that we're spending together special and I just know that I love it when you make stuff for us, so maybe when you make…"

"Alex" Meredith cut him off. " I'm kidding, you don't need to ramble out your reasons to me, I said I'd do it and I'll do it, now have her here tonight at 8 and keep her out of here until then, I don't want the surprise ruined okay?" She smiled.

"Haha thanks, Mer" he kissed her cheek and walked out of the kitchen and yelled behind him, "and I DO NOT ramble!"

Meredith smiled again to herself and allowed herself to get lost in her own world of cooking. She had put a time limit on herself to make it more challenging to create something amazing for her brothers love. Alex was one of her people and she'd do anything for him, not that she'd tell him that. But she knew what it was like to have a crap childhood, with an absent mother and a father who abandoned her, Meredith could now appreciate the little things her family did for one another, and if baking a cake was something that could make Jo and Alex happy then that's what she would do.

3 and a half hours later, a new record. Stood a four-tiered milk and white chocolate cake. Decorated with surgical tools made out of caramel and spun sugar which gave a magical feel to the whole creation. On the top layer read Jo made from chocolate e with happy birthday cascading on the next two layers. Overall Meredith was impressed with her work, she allowed her mind to wonder if the judges in the competition would agree. She shook her head letting the thoughts leave her head, who cares what they thought, Meredith new that her cake looked and tasted good, if there was one thing she didn't lack, it was confidence. Being a surgeon, you didn't have room to doubt yourself, so why should she doubt her bakes.

Looking at the clock she knew Alex and Jo would be back anytime soon from their fancy dinner. She called Lexie and her boyfriend, Mark, into the kitchen so that they'd be ready to surprise the birthday girl.

"Holy crap Mer, that's insane, you know I should introduce you to my brother he is really into cooking and baking and stuff," Mark said.

"Mmm I don't think so, but thanks Mark" Meredith replied. Mark and Lexie had been dating for two months, he was a hotshot plastic surgeon and when they had first started dating there were questions about his intentions with her, but Meredith had come to accept him, and despite his reputation for being a manwhore, he had never done anything to Lexie to suggest he was less than honourable.

"Oh yeah Derek is really cool Mer" Lexie back up her boyfriend putting her arm around him, "but don't worry sis, you are still the best baker I know, you've really outdone yourself this time." She eyed the cake mischievously.

"Alexandra Grey, if you so much as touch this cake before Jo has seen it you won't even get to sniff it" Meredith exclaimed, eyeing her sister with a knowing look.

The three of them laughed as they heard the key turn in the front door and heard Jo's excited voice fill through the hall way.

"Thank you Alex, today has been amazing." They heard jo say.

"Well it's not over yet, come on let's go see the others" Alex said as he led them to the kitchen.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY JO!" The three kitchen occupants screamed together.

"Oh my god, thank you guys, look at this cake, I can't believe it, is this for me?" Jo said, whilst tears filled her eyes.

"Of course Jo, you deserve it!" Meredith laughed taking in the younger doctor for a hug.

They sung happy birthday to Jo and watched her blow out the candle, all whilst the smile never left the interns face. Jo let Meredith cut the slices in fear of ruining something. There was silence through the kitchen whilst they all tried the birthday cake.

"Holy shit Mer, this is amazing" Alex said.

"Wait Dr Gr... Meredith you made this?" Jo asked, shocked at her mentors skills.

"Yes and you'll be quiet about it at work if you know what's good for you" Meredith replied, giving Jo the look she would in the OR when she was trying to get her point across.

Jo zipped her lip with her finger, "you won't hear a peep from me"

Alex smiled at his girlfriend, "Come on Jo, let's go upstairs we can take some of this with us" he looked at her cheekily.

"Oh god, I don't think I wanna be here tonight," Lexie said, as she watched Alex and Jo say their goodnights as they walked upstairs with more cake. "Let's go to yours Mark"

"Okay lex, but only If I can take some of this with me?" He asked looking at Meredith.

"Sure thing, there's gonna be loads left over anyway, I think Im gonna head to Joe's bar and wait till I know the lovebirds are sound asleep," Meredith said with a chuckle.

"Come with us to Mark's Mer, we can watch a movie or something?" Lexie said to both Mark and Merediths horror.

"I don't think so Lex, ummm but maybe another time" Meredith stuttered out trying to not seem ungrateful to her younger sisters offer. But spending the evening third wheeling her little sister and her boyfriend was not how she wanted to spend her night off.

Mark looked relieved also, "Come on Lex lets go" Lexie just shrugged and followed her boyfriend out after wishing her sister night.

Meredith began to clean up the plates, but quickly abandoned her idea when she started to hear noises from upstairs. She grabbed her keys and her jacket and headed out the door hoping her best friend Cristina would be at the bar.

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"The usual please Joe" Meredith said to the bartender she considered a fiend as she sat down in her usual seat.

"Hey Mer how was work today?" Joe asked his favorite and most regular customer.

"It was a day off today for me, I made other Jo a birthday cake" she said with a smile.

Joe was one of the other few people that knew of Merediths skills in the kitchen after she had baked him a tray bake to apologize for breaking multiple glasses after one night of heavy tequila shots.

"What did you make? Something incredible I'm sure?" He asked. Meredith got out her phone and showed him what she'd done with her day, as she usually took pictures in case she ever wanted to recreate, however she tended to never make the same thing twice.

"Holy crap Mer" he said, as Meredith laughed at his statement.

"A lot of people have said that to me today"

"Well I can see why that's amazing" Joe exclaimed getting a closer look at the picture.

"What's amazing?" A low voice came from beside Meredith.

Meredith quickly pout her phone away and turned to face the stranger. Her green eyes were met with bright blue ones. Quite possibly the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen. Her throat went dry and her heart rate increased. He had dark black hair that would put any model to shame, but gave off the impression it was all natural. He was tall and broad, with a perfectly macho figure, with suggested he worked out a lot. Meredith let her eyes trail down his chest along his arms which were covered with a tight fitting red shirt which mad everything else about him stand out. Meredith gulped and took a breath before speaking,

"Oh nothing important" she mumbled, before looking away, to her drink.

" Single malt scotch, please" The stranger asked Joe, not taking his eyes off Meredith. The blonde emerald eyed woman in front of him, intrigued him to know end. From the floral smell she was emitting to her quite giggle she had heard when he had walked up to her. Joe handed him his drink and started to wipe down the sides pretending not to listen to the two people infant of him. Joe had known Meredith a long time and he had not once seen her date, but maybe this guy who was very attractive in his eyes, would change that.

"So is this a good place to hang out?" The dark haired stranger asked Meredith.

"Mmm I don't know" she looked to Joe with a cheeky smile, "what would you say? Is this a good place to hang out?"

Joe looked up at Meredith, knowing she was avoiding talking to the guy on her own, just smiled and said,

"I would say you think so Meredith" he said with an emphasis on her name, " as my most loyal and best customer I'd say you do think so, but I'm the owner so I may be bias., I'm Joe by the way" he added holding his hand out to his new customer.

The stranger laughed, and shook Joe's hand.

"Derek, and I have a feeling I am going to be here often, I'm here in Seattle for the next four months for work, I was skeptical about coming here at first but I think I may come to change my mind." He said with a smirk and a glance at Meredith.

Meredith downed the shot in front of her, trying to use the liquid courage to not go home with this gorgeous Derek.

"And on that note, I'm leaving, I'll see you tomorrow Joe after work," Meredith said getting up.

"One drink is that all Mer, that's not like you," Joe said jokingly.

"Ha ha Joe thank you for letting the whole bar know of my relationship with alcohol, can always rely on you to put me in a good light" Meredith smirked at her friend

"Please don't leave on my account, I'm someone you can get to know love," Derek said quickly in an attempt to get to know this Meredith better.

"I have an early start in the morning so I'm gonna go with a solid no, but enjoy Seattle" Meredith looked at Derek before leaning into him, "and you get used to the rain" she said with a wink, her drink giving her the courage to make a bold move in front of this Derek.

Derek gulped and looked Meredith one last time in the eye, before she turned on her heel and walked out of the bar, his eyes following her small but curvy figure as it walked out the bar. When she was gone from his sight he turned back around and downed his drink,

"Yep, I think I'm gonna like it here" he said whilst calling for another drink.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Derek stood outside his best friend apartment waiting for him to come to the door.

'Mark!" He banged on the door again. "Its 9 am aren't you supposed to be up early being a doctor and all" he shouted through the door.

"Okay okay I'm coming" Marks voice could be heard from the other side.

The door was opened by a slightly disheveled Mark who was only in sweats, looking like he had just woken up.

"Jeez Mark, that's not a view I like to see before breakfast" Derek said as he walked past his brother. And into the kitchen.

"Well hello to you too Derek." Mark muttered closing the door.

"What I can't swing by my brother whilst I'm in his city?" Derek said without looking at Mark and instead looking for something to eat. He came across a chocolate cake in a. Container. "Hey Mark, have you been baking?"

"What? No, ummm Lexie's sister made it, you should try some" Mark replied.

"Looks like I'll have to, seriously man do you not have any food?" Derek exclaimed whilst hoping himself to a slice of cake, "cake for breakfast this is a new one for me"

"Derek you're a world renowned chef with multiple bakeries and restaurants all over the US, how is it you've never had cake for breakfast"

"You don't look like I do and eat cake for breakfast" Derek said with a laugh gesturing to his body.

"Yeah yeah we get it, you're not bad to look at, that's why it runs in the family" Mark told his brother.

"Sureeee, hold crap Mark…"

"What?"

"This is amazing, who did you say made it?"

"What? Oh I told you Lexie's sister. Now tell me more about this work thing you're here for."

"I don't know why I agreed to it really, I don't have time to judge a little baking contest I want to take my chain global, and how can I do that whilst here in Seattle." Derek said whilst shaking his head.

"Well why do it then?" Mark asked.

"Because it's a guilt trip, Lizzie asked me to do it and she's done so much for me I find it kind hard to say to no. "

"Man, that's your sister, the one person you can say no to"

"Have you met any of my sisters?" Derek asked Mark with disbelief.

"Yeah you're right" Mark said with a laugh. Growing up with Derek and his sisters he knew how domineering they could be.

"I have a few days before we start filming so what has Seattle got to offer?" Derek asked helping himself to more cake.

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Meredith looked at the clock, anxious to get home and sleep after her long shift after being called in earlier than she was meant too.

"Hey Mer, wanna go to Joe's after work?" Cristina asked, as she came up next to Meredith and leaned next to her on the counter.

"God yeah, I need tequila and sleep, in whichever order." Mer replied putting her head down on the counter.

"Grey! You'd better not be sleeping on the job" Miranda Bailey yelled at her former intern.

Meredith quickly put her head up, at her old mentors sharp words.

"No Dr Bailey, never Dr Bailey, would be very unprofessional, I know better, you taught me better" Meredith rushed out, because despite not working under her anymore, Meredith truly respected Miranda Bailey for the amazing doctor and person she was, no matter how stern she was with her.

Miranda smirked and kept walking towards her destination.

"Okay, let's go Cristina, I do not want Bailey getting on at me again." The two doctors walked to change and head over to their favorite hang out spot. They took their usual seats at the bar and Joe automatically gave them their usual orders without them having to order, before he was called away down the bar.

Meredith and Cristina chatted away about their days and about Cristinas research project she was going to start. Meredith listened quietly to what her person had to say, and couldn't help but think of how how own research was failing.

"Mer… Mer are you listening to me?" Cristina asked, snapping Meredith out of her worries.

"What, yeah I am."

"Well then why is he staring g at you?

"What are you… who?" Meredith asked finally paying attention to what her friend had to say.

"I told you McDreamy, sat over there with the guy who your sister is screwing" Cristina pointed out.

Meredith didn't have to look to know who 'McDreamy' was.

"Crap, lets go, I'm tired." Meredith hurried out her excuses and made towards the door with Cristina in tow.

"Derek, what are you looking at? I'm trying to pick a girl for you, but how can I do that when you ignore me?" Mark badgered his brother.

"Nothing, come on let's go I'm tired" Derek said after watching Meredith quickly leave the bar with an Asian woman following closely behind. He could guess the reason for their hasty departure, after he saw Merediths friend catch him staring at Meredith. He couldn't help it, she was a mystery to him, he wanted to know everything about her, inside and out. He shook his head before porny thoughts clouded his judgements and got Mark asking him more questions. He followed Mark out the door, hoping he would see Meredith again soon.

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Back at home and after ignoring Crisitinas' many questions about their quick depart and the now dubbed "McDreamy', Meredith went to the kitchen to forget about what had happened the only way she knew how, baking. So a batch of cookies later Meredith was still wondering why this McDreamy affected her so much.

I mean sure it could've been the eyes, that you could just melt in. Or the perfect hair which was just screaming to have her fingers run through it. The broad shoulders that would be perfect to hold on to, or his muscular arms which would wrap perfectly around… wait stop, what was she doing? Meredith Grey could not be distracted by anything let alone a man, what would her mother say? She needed to do what was best for her research, and looking at the flyer she had on her kitchen counter she was starting to think there was gonna be only one way how to do that. She had an application to fill out.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Meredith woke the next day feeling dejected and hopeless. She'd finally made the decision to go for it and try something different to find she'd missed the deadline for applications. She went down to the kitchen where Lexie was sitting at the table anxiously waiting for her. Not in the mood for her perky sisters morning happiness Meredith decided to avoid the situation by drinking coffee. Lexie on the other hand was used to her sisters antics, and was determined to get her stubborn sister to listen to what she had to say.

"Can you check the machine for me Mer?" Lexie asked with a smug smile.

"Hmmmm… sure whatever" Meredith shrugged as she pressed the button and got back to her coffee.

"Hi This is Elizabeth Hunter, and I'm calling for Meredith Grey from The All American Bake Off, and we are delighted to offer you a position as one of our 12 contestants and the chance to become crowned America's best baker and potentially win the prize money. If you would like to accept please call back on…."

After the information details were left the machine buzzed and there was silence. Finally Lexie couldn't take it anymore.

"Mer isn't this amazing, out of all those people YOU got accepted! Mer… ummm are you gonna say something?" Lexie gushed before noticing her sister was in a state of shock.

"Lexie…" Meredith began, with a mixture of disbelief and anger, "tell me why these people seem to think I want to be in this competition when I don't remember applying for it? And even if I did the application deadline was yesterday, Lexie what did you DO?"

"It wasn't just me! It was Mark's idea and Alex and I filled it in, wait how did you know there was a deadline? Oh my gosh, Mer you were gonna apply?"

"No… Yes… Maybe" Meredith exclaimed sitting down next to Lexie putting her head in her hands. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Mer you accept it, its such a good opportunity for you, you're gonna kick all those other bakers asses and you can get fresh perspective for your research." Lexie reassured her sister.

"You really think I should do this? I'll have to take time off work and I'll need someone to cover my department when I'm gone, thank goodness its here in Seattle so I can stay here and you and Alex will have to fend.."

"MER" Lexie intervened, " I'm gonna stop you right there, call her back and tell her you would be honored to accept the position then get your ass ready to take part in the first challenge, you need to be there in two days!"

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Two days later Meredith was sat in a room with 11 other people, from all different backgrounds, ages and cultures. She looked around at her competition who she could potentially be spending the upcoming weekends with. No-one was talking, just all looking round at one another waiting for their instructions. A tall dark haired women who was strangely familiar to Meredith walked into the room. All heads turned to her and when she spoke everyone listened.

"Hi guys I'm Elizabeth Hunter, you can call me Lizzie. Im one of the executive producers on the show so I'll be in charge around here." Liz started. " today is just the information day, tomorrow is when the baking starts" she smiled round at everyone. " So first we'll introduce the judges and then you can each introduce yourselves cause you will be spending a lot of time together. So without further ado, here are your judges, Mrs Donna Hugh, famous homemaker and author and Derek Shepherd, world-class restauranteur and chef."

The contestants all clapped, and Meredith who was at the back tried to get a glimpse of the two individuals who would spend their time critiquing her. She wasn't scared by that prospect, she'd been criticized her whole life by her mother so two strangers was nothing in comparison. She could only see the woman though, an elderly lady who gave off a very grandmotherly feel. Meredith figured she'd meet this hotshot Derek in due course, it was weird she'd felt like that name was familiar.

It was time for the contestants to introduce themselves, and Meredith inwardly groaned at the elementary school task. The guy next to her muttered under his breath,

"Great another chance for me to screw up, do they wanna humiliate me before this has even started?"

Meredith couldn't help but laugh, "it's only one thing you gotta say about yourself and your name, what could go wrong?"

"You clearly don't know me" the baby faced looking male said.

meredith giggled "That's why we do this exercise"

Thanks to their chatting they had missed the first 4 competitors who Meredith would later find out to be Brianca, a middle aged house wife who had endless children. Steven, a construction worker, Liam a graphics designer and Mary a grandmother to 17. They continued not to notice, even when a certain Male judge heard a familiar giggle that was music to his hears. He couldn't believe it, the one woman who he couldn't stop thinking about since he arrived in this rain filed city, was sat right before him and was going to be with him for the foreseeable future. To his knowledge she hadn't noticed him yet, she was too deeply engrossed in a conversation with the guy next to her. Which for some reason gave him cause to be annoyed by this new male.

Meredith and George, her new friend were busy laughing at the other contestants, so when it was time for their introductions they both had big smiles on their face.

" Hi I'm Meredith Grey, I'm a neurosurgeon here in Seattle and Im head of the neurology department at Seattle Grace, and I enjoy baking for my brother and sister, when I have time" she added with a cheeky smile.

"Hi, uh I'm uhh George O'Malley and I work in the post office and I learned how to bake from my mum."

Post office, Derek thought, he was fine he didn't have competition with this guy, plus he got slightly gay vibe anyway. He started thinking about how to talk to Meredith, the. It hit him. He was a judge. She was a contestant. Nothing could happen or her chances of winning would be jeopardized. He couldn't do that to her, not if he wanted a real shot after the contest was over. Damn he wished he'd never taken this gig, that way he would be free to ask Meredith out. But then again he would have not had a reason to go to Seattle.

Whilst Derek was lost in thought Meredith had finally realized the identity of the male judge. She had also realized that this competition may be more difficult than she first thought.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Okay guys, good morning, now you see all the camera crews setting up just ignore them you'll get used to them soon enough, this series isn't going to be aired for another five months so it's not something you need to worry about now, just get on and bake."

"Camera crew…" Meredith said with a. Worried look on her, to no-one in particular. "It's going to be televised."

"Yeah duh, have you never seen this show before on tv?" A man who was standing overly close next t her said.

"No,i'm a surgeon, when do I have time to watch tv?" Meredith replied whilst rolling her eyes at this cocky competitor.

"Of course, neuro right? Well you're lucky smart women don't phase me, I'm not intimidated at all," the man said smiling a little too widely for Merediths liking."I'm Finn by the way."

That's when Meredith remembered from the night before, the only contestant out of the 11 she was facing that self any attraction to her. But he'd said he worked for his dad as a dog walker, and if his cocky attitude wasn't enough, any chance the light brown hair man had with her was out the window. After all a grown man should have a real job, not just walking dogs. Maybe it was her mother's influence on her but she did have standards and she was looking for someone who had ambition, a chef for example…

Damn, there it was again, Derek Shepherd sneaking into her thoughts, with seemed to be a common occurrence. Even in her dreams last night, not that she was complaining because who wouldn't want to think of what that man could do with his hands….

And stop thinking porny thoughts, especially when you're having a conversation with someone who is already looking at you like a meal.

"Meredith" she said to him with a tight smile, not offering her hand to him, then walking away to stand next to George who she had come to like but still looked at her with big puppy dog eyes like he worshipped her.

Derek had been sat behind his sister whilst she talked about filming to the competitors and would not stop glancing at Meredith whilst she was paying attention. He noticed the dog walker from last night try to chat her up but she seemed to be displeased with his advances and quickly left that conversation for the postman that she was with last night. This made Derek happy, because he had not been liking the way the dog man looked at his Meredith.

Wait his Meredith? Not quite, especially when she hadn't even looked at him again since she first noticed him, let alone spoken to him. She had been quick to exit last night and had made very deliberate attempts today to avoid him at all costs. Well soon, he thought, she'll have to talk to me sometime I am going to be a judge after all. He snapped back to the present as they announced it was going to be 10 minutes till they started, so he went to stand with Donna and the shows presenters who would introduce the tasks, Susan and Mel, a couple who had great charism and very bad puns, so were nice to hang around especially when his sister was bossing him around.

"Okay people," called liz's voice to cut out any chatter, " we start filming in 5, you'll walk to your stations that we showed you yesterday and then the presenters are going to welcome you and introduce the first task and you start. Simple okay? Now I want to see big smiles don't forget your loved ones not to mention the rest of America are going to see this so look happy as much as you can, no swearing and good luck!"

"That's going to be a challenge in itself" Meredith muttered from her place at the back of the competitors waiting to walk into the tent, little did she know Derek was stood behind her who let out a low chuckle to her reaction.

Meredith didn't need to turn around to know who it belonged to, she didn't care look into his eyes again until she absolutely needed to because when she did she wasn't sure she ever wanted to stop, and quite frankly she wasn't here to be oggoling over fancy chefs who had great hair and a body to die for, no she was here to bake and forget about her failing trial. So she chose to ignore him and follow along with the other competitors who had begun the walk into the tent cooking area which was lined with 12 work benches all facing the front, equipped with ovens, a sink, drawers full on utensils and an area for presenting. Meredith was so busy thinking about who was behind her she hadn't heard the cue to begin.

Well this is it, no turning back now, she thought, who knows it could be fun.

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"… so that's you first challenge, you have 3 hours, good luck, on your marks. Get set. BAKE!" Mel or Sue shouted throughout the tent.

Meredith set to work immediately, this task was a breeze, being a simple cake was not a challenge for her, but she guessed they wanted to get rid of anyone who couldn't do the basics. She was going to do a smaller version of Jo's birthday cake seeing as she didn't have to practice it as she'd already done it a few days before. She could see around her the other bakers in different states of calm and dismay, she was pretty sure someone near the front was crying, which made Meredith smile, why would you cry over a cake? She could see the judges and presenters coming round to each station and asking them about their cake they would be presenting. At least being at the back she had extra time to prepare herself for her encounter with Derek.

It was 40 minutes later when they finally got round to Merediths station, and she had already got her cake in the oven and was now making caramel figures so they'd have time to set.

"Hi Meredith, what are you making for us today?" Donna asked with a friendly smile.

"So I'm doing a chocolate and caramel cake with chocolate chip frosting and a cherry jam to life it, then decorating with a mirror glaze and caramel figures" Meredith said without looking at Derek, trying to hold off as long as she could.

"And have you done this many times before? The mirror glaze can be challenging" Donna continued.

"Yeah I did one the other day for a friends birthday" Meredith replied. Sue or Mel then asked how a surgeon had time to bake, and whilst they were talking about that Derek's head was turning. Those flavors were very familiar to him, in fact he had had them a few days prior at his brothers apartment. Mark had said Lexie's sister was the creator of that cake, so could it be that Meredith and Lexie were related? They didn't look alike, but then again he had only met Lexie once so maybe he wasn't remembering correctly. He chose not to mention that he could possibly know Meredith's sister and instead thanked Meredith quietly for her time and wished her luck, looking directly into her emerald eyes before following the others towards the front of the tent to wait out the rest of the time, he would find Meredith later.

Meredith was still reeling over those eyes that had held her gaze so intently. She could not understand why this one man had such an effect on her, it was like they were connected, and if she believed in fate she would have put it down to that, but being the realistic scientist she was she couldn't put her finger on it, so she chose to do what she did best, and repress those feelings and focus on the present.

"Okay so you guys can wonder around and chat to the contestants ask them what they are doing studs like that okay?" Liz directed the four at the front of the tent. Derek had to mentally check himself that he wouldn't go running down to Merediths station immediately, so instead he chose to go to Norman who was an elderly retired gentleman who had a thick accent and was making a lemon and thyme cake. Whilst they chatted about flavor combinations Meredith had zoned out of anything that was happening around her and was focussing on her caramel designs, her cake say on the side next to her emitting an amazing smell.

"That smells incredible" a voice said, startling Meredith from her concentration, her hands didn't falter though, she was a surgeon after all. She looked up into the blue eyes that she'd been avoiding, and let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"Thank you" she said quietly looking down at what she was doing.

"So, how's Lexie?" Derek asked with a questioning look.

"Oh she's fine she's just excited I actually agreed to be here" Meredith stopped and looked at Derek, "wait, how do you know Lexie?"

"She'd dating my brother, well adopted brother" Derek replied giving Meredith what she now dubbed as the McDreamy smile.

"Mark? Mark is your brother?" Meredith said with a disbelieving tone.

"Yep, since we were in kindergarten he started coming home with me and my family sort of adopted him and we've been best friends ever since."

"Wow, what a small world" Meredith said, still trying to process the connections she had with this man.

"A fact that I am very glad of," Derek added with a lopsided grin.

Meredith giggled at his boldness, and went back to her work,

"Shouldn'tyou be asking me what I'm doing?" She asked without looking.

"I've been in this business a long time now, if I didn't know what tempering chocolate and setting caramel looked like I'd be worried."

"You really like yourself huh?" Meredith commented with a smile, letting him know she was joking.

"Well I did tell you, if you know me you'll love me?" Came Dereks response.

"Oh WOW, Meredith right?" Came a high pitched voice from behind Derek. It belonged to a very mousey and overdressed woman, who looked like she was trying very hard to impress someone. "That looks AMAZEing, it must be the skills you get in surgery, that makes it so easy for you to do. I'm a nurse so I know what it's like to have steady hands, I'm Rose by the way, " she added with a giggle looking at Derek.

Not liking this woman tone Meredith faked a smile, "oh which hospital are you at? I know a lot of nurses from all over Seattle," she asked.

"Oh I work at Dillard." Rose said with a smug smile, not noticing Merediths reaction of smirking.

"Yeah I know Dr Stiley there, the only neurosurgeon there he often sends me consults to look at when he struggles with them, he's a great guy. I'm going to his retirement party next month." Meredith said with her own smug smile. Derek tried to hide his reaction as well, his brother worked in Seattle as a doctor and he knew Dillard was a crap place to work, it didn't even have an ER or a plastics department, so Mark had made him swear to never go there should he ever need it. But rose didn't Eem to catch win that Meredith was making fun of her and just smiled before turning to Derek,

"Derek you MUST come see my fondant figures I do this super clever paste that makes them stay right where I want them to, I came up with it myself" she walked away expecting Derek to follow.

"Have fun" Meredith said whilst raising her eyebrows, "I'm sure its Suuppperr clever".

Derek laughed and slowly walked away to follow the annoying horse like woman. Wanting nothing more than to stay talking to Meredith.

On the other side of the tent, behind the cameras, who thankfully hadn't caught the interaction on tape was another dark haired woman who had watched the whole scene unfold. Liz stared at the woman who she'd noticed her little brother watch continuously over the past two days and was worried for him. Derek couldn't get attached to someone he was supposed to be judging fairly, it would ruin his reputation and this Meredith girls chances at doing well in the contest. But Liz was conflicted, she hadn't seen her brother light up like that since their dad had died 5 years before, and she had never seen him with a girl to the point where she wasn't sure he was into them anymore. So a decision was made, to find out more about this surgeon and she would have to call reinforcement to do it.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGGAGAGAGAGAGAGAG

"Okay bakers your time is up, the judges will now come round and try each of your bakes" Sue, as Meredith had know worked out said.

Meredith went to stand by George and see what he had done,

"Looks good George" she commented.

"Are you kidding me Mer, mine looks like trash compared to yours" he stated with a worried expression, "I'm gonna be the first to go I know it."

"Don't think like that, and it does't look bad at all and I'm sure it tastes amazing which is what is really important." She comforted him, before walking bake to her station to watch the others get judged. So far everyone was fairing out okay, nothing amazing yet, but then again it was just a simple cake. She watched as Derek and the other judges walk up to Rose, where her cake looked spectacular, must to Merediths dismay. Something about her just rubbed Meredith the wrong way, and after all she was competitive so she wanted the others to do worse than her, except maybe George. Although she couldn't hear, she could tell by the judges faces they weren't impressed with what they had tasted, which made Meredith a little happier. The two judges moved on to Finn's work which looked very sloppy and resembled dog food. She watched as both male and female judges coughed as they tasted his work. Soon enough it was Merediths turn, surprisingly she was nervous that Derek would hate her cake, but she squashed down those thoughts quickly, after all why would she care if he hated it, he may be a judge but Meredith knew that that had nothing to do with her feelings. She WANTED to impress him.

"Holy cr…crumbs, this is amazing Meredith" Derek corrected himself, not wanting to be told off by his sister. "Seriously these flavors balance perfectly not to mention it looks great."

"I agree, you've really set a high standard for yourself Meredith" Donna said kindly.

Meredith breathed out a sigh of relief as they moved onto George's cake, she sat there waiting to be told what to do next.

"Okay and cameras are off, thank you everyone, now you have some downtime before the next challenge so I expect you to be back here by 2 ready to start the next one at 2:30." Liz announced. All the bakers filed out of the hot tent.

"I don't know what they mean mine didn't have any flavor, vanilla is a flavour!" Rose was complaining to Finn. "Everyone loves vanilla plus mine looked the best out of everyones, I just have a way with decorating"

"They don't know what they are talking about, ginger and cinnamon do go together they aren't that overwhelming." Finn said back to her with disgust on his face.

"Oh hush you two." Mary said with reproach, "Of course they know what they are talking about, that's why they are judges and you aren't. Also dear, cinnamon and ginger? Who taught you how to bake?"

Rose and Finn looked stunned that they were told off by sweet Mary but decided to keep their mouths shut until they were out of hearing distance. Meredith and George smiled at one another and went to sit outside to get fresh air before they had to go back in.

"Derek, a word?" Liz called to her brother.

"Yes your highness" he said jokingly.

"Ha ha, now 1. Don't swear 2. You have to split your time evenly with ALL contestants not just the pretty girls." Liz reprimanded.

"Okay I didn't swear and if you had tried the cake you would have had the same reaction. AND I'm glad you think Norman is a pretty girl I'm sure he'll be flattered." Derek answered back.

"You know what I mean Derek do not screw this up for me, for you or for her okay?" And with that Liz turned on her heel to make a call.

Derek sighed, his life was always like this, his sisters and mother telling him what to do. He let himself think about what Liz said, how could she have picked up on his feelings for Meredith already? He wasn't even sure of them yet, let alone what Meredith herself felt. All he knew was that he wanted to get to know the dirty blonde with the most amazing eyes he had ever seen and a giggle that made his heart beat faster.

Meanwhile Liz had walked out the tent and was waiting for someone to answer the phone.

"Hey, so I need you to come here to Seattle… it's not me it's Derek, I'm worried about him… okay that's great I'll have someone get you from the airport… okay love you too mum bye."

She snapped the phone shut, if there was one person who could get through to her hot headed brother, it was their mum.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Okay bakers, so this is your second challenge, the technical challenge which you have not been able to practice and you do not know about until now" Mel said to the bakers who were ready behind their stations, " so we are going to ask the judges to leave so they don't know who has produced what, so goodbye judges."

Donna and Derek left, the latter with a final glance at Meredith, who met his gaze and smiled.

"Your first technical challenge is one of Mr Shepherds very own creations, classic coffee and walnut cupcake, but all you have in front of you are the ingredients, no measurements and no timescales, you need to produce 12 identical cupcakes which have been decorated in an hour and a half. So no small feat really" Sue said with a laugh.

"On your marks… get set… BAKE" Mel finished, and the bakers set to work on their cupcakes. Meredith was slightly disappointed, she'd expected a challenge and coffee cakes were Mark's favorite so she'd been asked by Lexie a month ago to do them for him. With a sigh she began weighing out her flour, George looked over with a panicked look on his face,

"How do you know Mer are you guessing?" He said hurriedly.

"George calm down, its cupcakes, we aren't making a croquembouche, it's cupcakes you can do it." Meredith reassured him, something that was becoming a frequent occurrence with George's obvious nerves.

"Right cupcakes" George muttered.

Meredith laughed and continued on with her cupcakes. The hour and a half went by quickly and Meredith had finished with 5 minutes to spare, so she could watch the others in amusement. A lot of people seemed to struggle when they didn't have their recipes, some people had undecorated cupcakes on their presentation stands, which hadn't been left to cool enough to get frosting on. Those that did looked like the frosting hadn't been piped on. Didn't they realize presentation was just as important as taste.

The judges were welcomed back in and stood before a table where all the bakers had put their cupcakes. Derek looked at them with shock, to see so many unfinished and unprofessional looking was a surprise to him, he thought these people were at least able to make cupcakes. The bakers were stood in front of them waiting judgement. Their creations behind a picture of them which was faced away from the judges so that they couldn't tell whose was who's, but the bakers could.

So they began to go down the row of 12 cupcakes, finding some okay ones some not okay ones. Finn's were raw in the middle and cake batter seeped out, Rose had tears fill her eyes as hers were judged to be tasteless. When it came to Merediths, both Donna and Derek gushed about how good they were, they did the same for Mary's and Normans and a woman called Jennifer who had gone with the idea of butterfly cakes to make hers stand out. The judges then ranked them in order from worst to best, with Finn coming last and Meredith coming first closely followed behind Jennifer. George was in the middle, something he was happy with, not being last.

Once the judgements were over, the bakers were told they could go home and to be back for 9am the following morning. Meredith left quickly not wanting to discuss the day with anyone except her family. She headed to the one place she knew that they'd be, Joe's bar.

Walking into the familiar room, she found Lexie, Mark, Alex, Cristina and her close friend Callie at a table.

"Mer! How'd it go? Did they like you, what did they ask you to do, did you meet Derek? He's Marks brother you know? Well not actual brother, but you probably knew that because they look nothing a like but he's nice isn't he, tell us everything" Lexie rambled out.

"Lex, maybe breathe? Let mer tell us" Alex said.

"There isn't much to tell, it was easy not very challenging I'm hoping it gets harder." Meredith said with a shrug.

"That's our Mer, always the competitive one" Cristina said, whilst she would never do something as meaningless as baking she respected Merediths competitive edge in everything she did.

They chatted about their days in the hospital comparing Merediths competition with people they knew, laughing and drinking about how Mer had already won without needing to do anything else.

Derek walked into the bar and looked around for his brother who had told him to meet him there before they went to meet with their old mentor from college Richard Webber. Before finding Mark he heard that laugh again, the one that gave him chills down his spine, oh crap she was here, and none-the-less sat with the very person he was looking for.

"Derek over here" Mark called out when he saw Derek in the doorway.

Derek made his way over, very wearily no knowing the reaction from Meredith that he would get. Instead of being ignored or avoided, Meredith smiled at him, that made him stand up straighter and smile back.

"Guys this is Derek, Derek this is Callie, Cristina, Alex and you know Lexie and Meredith" Mark made introductions without noticing how his brother and his girlfriends sister were looking at one another, too usb standing up and putting on his jacket. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you all, I'm guessing you all work in the same hospital?" Derek said.

"Yeah we work at Seattle Grace across the road," Callie said. " and speaking of, Cristina I want tp check on that car account victim that we worked on earlier, his vitals kept dipping, so I'm gonna go, good luck tomorrow Mer, nice to meet you Derek."

"Yeah I'll join you Callie, bye people." Cristina said following Callie as she walked form the bar. "Oh and Alex your girlfriend is over there." Pointing at Jo across the bar.

"Great, nice to meet you man," Alex said as he walked towards Jo, with a nod at Derek.

"So how did you find today Meredith?" Derek asked focusing all his attention on the woman infront of him.

"Oh um it was okay." Meredith replied, not wanting to emit her true thoughts to the judge of the contest.

"Bullshit Mer, Derek she found it piss easy, you aren't challenging them enough, you may as well announce Meredith winner already, she could bake a cake in her sleep." Mark said loudly.

"Mark" both Lexie and Meredith said in synchrony.

"Ummm I don't really think that, it was ummm tricky" Meredith said trying not to insult the contest.

Derek laughed, "No I agree with you, though I was surprised at how many people did struggle, like how can you not make cupcakes? My nieces and nephews could do a better job than some people today."

"Right! It's like if you can't do basics how are you going to do something with any skill at all, " Meredith laughed with him.

"You should consider yourself lucky, you get to actually bake and I have to taste everything, which is not a pleasant experience let me tell you, " Derek bantered back. Lexie and Mark watched on at their two favorite people individually, both thinking the same thing, whilst Meredith and Derek were chatting away about the day they'd both experienced together.

"What was Rose's super clever paste by the way, I was intrigued," Meredith asked the very attractive man who had now taken. Seat next to her.

"You would never guess…" he leant in closer to Meredith and lowered his voice, so close that he could smell her flowery scent and she his woodsy fragrance, "powdered sugar and wait for it… water."

Meredith threw her head back and laughed, and the two bakers laughed together oblivious to the stares from their siblings.

"Right Derek, let's go, Webber will be waiting for us," Mark said drawing Dereks gaze away from his fixation.

"Richard Webber?" Meredith asked.

" Yeah do you know him?" Derek said, an idea already forming in his mind.

" Yeah he used to work with my mum, he used to baby sit me a lot when she was in surgery. I didn't realize he was in Seattle, I thought he'd retired in Boston." Meredith answered.

"You should come with us then, I'm sure he'd love to see you," Derek said without missing a beat.

Meredith smiled but shook her head, "no it's okay thanks I should probably get ready for tomorrow anyway, tell him Meredith Grey says hi."

Derek tried not to let the disappointment show in his face, and nodded in agreement. He would get to see her tomorrow anyway.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," he said as he got up to leave.

Meredith just smiled and the two linked eyes, both internally saying that they were looking forward to it.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

Derek and Mark were walking in silence to Mark's apartment and Dereks hotel which happened to be on the same block. Both having enjoyed catching up with their old mentor and they had plans to meet up again with him, which Derek silently hoped Meredith would be able to join as Richard had been enthusiastic to hear of her current status at the hospital and wanted to catch up with her.

Mark was contemplating how to address the obvious issue that he saw with Derek, without him going on the defense, because he knew his brother and speaking about his feelings was not something Derek had ever liked to do, from when Mark tried to microwave Derek's pet frog to when his dad had died.

"You're a smart guy" Mark started.

"Ahahaha what Mark?" Derek snapped out of his Meredith day dream. " I know I am, I didn't think you had acknowledged it though."

"Hey I've always known you were smart just not as smart as me." Mark replied indignantly.

"Get it off your chest Mark, don't beat around the bush." Derek said bluntly knowing his brother was not one for small talk unless he had something important to say.

"I just mean you're smart, you know she's off limits, not just for your sake but for hers."

"Why do you care in the first place?" Derek scoffed.

"Look I love Lexie and in the time we've been together I've gotten to know Mer she's been like a sister to me, helping when I've done something dumb and need to get back into Lexie's good books or when I've had a crap day and she's just there to talk to. She's a good person and she's strong and made it through a lot to get to this place now. She's happy and this baking thing is not only good for her professionally to get away from work but also emotionally, she's been stressed ever since I've known her, something to do with her clinical trial or whatever, but if you do what you want to do, you could ruin that for her and I don't want that for either of you." Mark finished and looked down at his feet.

Derek had stayed uncharacteristically quiet through marks declaration. His brother had given him lot to think about, but more than anything it only increased his desire to get to know Meredith on a deeper level. So he chose his next words carefully.

"She wouldn't be some conquest Mark," he said quietly. "I met her when I first arrived here in Joe's and since then I cannot stop thinking about her. I know what would happen to both of our reputations if we were to do something whilst she was in the competition so I'm not going to do anything till after she's out, which could be a while considering she seems to have a raw talent for it." He added with a small laugh.

Mark nodded his approval at his brothers words, he was conflicted because deep down he knew Meredith and Derek would be perfect for one another but now is not the right time, plus Dereks work took him all over the country whereas Meredith had to be in Seattle ready to go to the hospital at anytime. They just needed to wait for the competition to be over and see what happens from there. It was gonna be a long 12 weeks for the both of them.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The next day Meredith arrived promptly at the sight of the competition. She was one of the first there and sat in the room where they had had their first meeting. She took out her notebook and started to think about her clinical trial, just scribbling down anything that came to mind when she thought of it.

"Nervous for today?" A voice said from behind her. Meredith sighed as she recognized who it was.

"Just a bit" Meredith lied, not feeling any nerves at all, only feelings of annoyance coming through at being disturbed.

"You'll be fine you're a natural," Finn said, thinking he was reassuring her.

Meredith just gave a tight smile and went back to her notebook. By this time more people had started to arrive and she could feel Finn trying to come up with something to say to her.

"Mer, what are you scribbling away at over there?" Came the high pitched voice from Rose, drawing most of the others attention to where Meredith was. Who did she think she was thinking she could call Meredith by her nickname that only her close friends, and now George, called her. Resisting the temptation to roll her eyes, Meredith looked up and smiled tightly,

"Just going over some notes for the clinical trial I'm doing at work," she said. This caught the attention of Derek who had just walked in, hadn't Mark said this was one of the reasons she was stressed.

"How can you possibly think about work when we have our first Showstopper challenge? I know surgeons like you Meredith, they are married to their job and that's all. You need to think about the other more important things in your life than just cutting people open otherwise you'll end up all alone," Rose stated boldly. Meredith inwardly winced, she didn't know what to say to that. Rose was essentially calling her her mother, something she did not take kindly too.

Derek has heard every word Rose had said and was about to step in and say something when his sister got there first.

"I happen to think saving lives is of great importance and if you've ever had any loved one in the hospital you'd be grateful to people like Meredith, who work their asses off to ensure they are at their best so they can treat people and help them'" Liz spat out, and Derek knew she was thinking of the surgeons who had tried their very best to save their father. Rose decided it was a good time to shut up and not make anymore statements criticizing her fellow bakers. Meredith gave a small smile of thanks to Liz, who nodded back and returned the smile.

Derek looked on proudly at his sister and back to Meredith whose face did not seem to display any kind of reaction to Rose's cruel words. But Derek, who had become quite fascinated with Merediths eyes noticed the colour change from the usual bright green to a darker shade, showing that the accusation against her had hit home. This fueled him with anger but he couldn't show it. Meredith was not his to comfort and her battles were not his to fight. So if she was moving on from it, so would he. His blue eyes showed nothing but concern for her as she met his gaze as the group moved from the room to the baking tent.

Meredith, though hurt by Rose, was more concerned with Derek's reaction to the whole fiasco. The way she saw his jaw clench and his knuckles tighten out of her peripheral view. Then his eyes which shone just for her as she walked past him, were even more mesmerizing than ever before because they showed nothing but concern for her well being. It made her think how nice it would be to have someone who would care and protect her against her troubles. She'd never dated before, her mother had sworn her off all men and the abandonment from her father just backed it up. She had not once allowed herself to fall for anyone before, sure she had one night stands and the very occasional date, but until now her heart had been in her work. Maybe Derek would change that? Wait actually no, he couldn't, because he was a judge in this stupid, not to mention easy, baking contest. What would the consequences be though? Probably lead to her disqualification and his removal from the panel, his credibility would go down and he would never be asked to do something like this again, so no she wouldn't do that to him. Derek was strictly off limits.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

"Okay bakers, half an hour left on your showstopping masterpiece."

Meredith sighed, they had been given 3 hours to make a collection of a minimum of 3 different flavor cakes in a design to represent who they were, a task that had made her scoff when she first read it. She was decorating her creation, which was involved a model of a brain which was surrounded by 3 different cakes which were sculpted to look like hospital buildings. The whole thing was around a foot and a half wide and her cakes which were each different heights had at least 6 layers in. She had done a chocolate and chili, lemon and poppy seed, and a lavender and vanilla. Each filled with different butter creams. She had added color dye to ensure her colors popped. She had cut out windows using a knife and used fondant to cover the three 'buildings'. The brain that sat in the middle had been sculpted out of a cake was decorated in bright pink fondant and Meredith had drawn the different crevis' on in edible marker. The judges has seemed impressed with her ideas but had remained sceptical that she'd pull it off. But of course she did, making cakes and making them pretty was not hard for her, it was relaxing and maybe slightly boring.

Whilst she was defining the two different hemispheres of her brain model she glanced over at George who had taken on a new confidence that she hadn't seen in him yet. Maybe due to his success of not messing up yesterday? She moved over to look at who else was succeeding and who was failing. Rose, unfortunately, had made a three-tiered cake and it was decorated head to toe in pink and white roses. It looked stunning but Meredith thought it lacked imagination. Norman was also fairing well, with his design of the American flag cake showing off his time in the army. Finn was not doing so well, his dog paw print cake looked to only have two different types of cake, so didn't fulfil the brief, not to mention the very poor job he was doing at decorating it.

" Are you going to label it as well?" Came a soft voice from behind her.

"I wasn't planning on but if you'd like me to I could write out the basics for you?" Meredith joked.

Derek laughed. "I'm fine thanks, you don't need any more to do after what you've done with it, it looks amazing." He paused, "and I'll have you know I took a cognitive neuroscience class in college so I do actually know most parts of the brain."

" oh yeah?" Meredith met his gaze and smiled.

"Our professor made us learn over 60 different areas and let me tell you after spending weeks cramming on one topic, it's not something you'll forget easily."

"That sounds rough, but what's a fancy chef like you doing taking a neuro class? Food tech not interesting enough?" Meredith giggled.

" ha very funny, I actually have a degree in business management and not food technology thank you very much, and I had credits I needed to fill and neuroscience seemed interesting," Derek said, taking an unconscious step closer to Meredith.

"Well, that does make some sense I suppose" Meredith replied.

"Umm Derek Meredith, you're supposed to be talking about what you're actually doing and how you're doing it, our viewers will not want to hear about the brain, no offence Meredith," Liz came up and said.

"Ahaha none taken," Meredith laughed, then went into an explanation on how she was using food colouring to get the colours and textures of her design right, for the camera. Derek smiled and took that as his cue to leave. Time was almost up and he needed to take his place next to Donna.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

When all of the bakes had been tasted and reviewed by the judges, it was time for them to announce the star baker of the week and who would be going home and not returning.

"Okay folks so I have the pleasure of announcing the star baker this week and I am very happy to say that this person has quite literally blown us all away with their creations, they have quite literally saved our lives," Mel said with a smile at her own joke, "Meredith congratulations."

Meredith smiled shyly as the others clapped for her, she met Derek's eyes across the room, and both individuals quite literally lit up at the small interaction. Their eyes shone a bit brighter and their smiles went a fraction wider. Neither listened when the person going out was announced.

"Finn, I'm sorry, you're going home."

Both Meredith and Derek both looked away from the other and back to the present. As soon as Finn was announced all the contestants started to stand and hug one another, congratulating them or saying goodbye. Meredith sat on her stool with a displeased look on her face, as if this would be happening every week, she did not hug strangers, especially not for just passing a stage in a cooking contest.

Derek smirked at the look on Meredith's face, his sister had warned him of what the contestants would do and he had no problem with it if it meant he would get to press up against Meredith every week. He began to walk over to her to congratulate her on her achievement on his way over he got sidetracked by Rose, who pulled him into a hug.

"Oh my gosh Derek I knew you loved my cakes, I'm so glad I will be around to see you next week," she said seductively.

Derek laughed awkwardly as he took her arms off of him and held her away at a distance, "yeah congratulations," he mumbled before walking away. Rose's attentions on him were starting to grate on him, did she not realize he was a judge? Though maybe that was very hypocritical because if it had been Meredith he would never discontinue her advances.

By the time he made it over to the only person he actually wanted to congratulate, everyone else had stopped with their hugs and praises and were starting to gather their belongings to go home.

Meredith herself was still rather starstruck at being touched by so many people who she didn't know. That only happened when she delivered news to a family and they wanted to give her thanks or they needed comfort, that was okay because that was a legitimate reason but friendly hugs were not something Meredith or anyone in her family condoned, except maybe Izzie… but no she wasn't going to go down that path right now.

She turned to leave and bumped into the one man who since first meeting him, had never been far from her thoughts.

"Congratulations"

"Thanks, time to celebrate now before work tomorrow," Meredith smiled at him, she walked passed him brushing his arm as she went and walked towards George who was waiting for her at the front of the tent. She turned back and laughed as she saw Derek watching her go.

She hoped he had gotten her message, whilst she wasn't going to do anything with him that could jeopardize his career, she did really like being with him even if she couldn't do all the things she really wanted to. Everyone from work was going to be there so they'd stop her before she did anything stupid.

Plus he was just so nice to look at.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Derek was hurrying on his way to the bar where he knew Meredith was going to be. He knew he was tempting fate by going, but to be honest he just couldn't resist her. She could say 'jump' and he'd reply 'how high?'. He was really falling for this girl without even really knowing her. But he wanted to now more than anything.

He had dated before, he'd had girlfriends and one night stands, but he was looking for something. He wanted a love like his parents, he wanted to love someone the way he knew his dad loved his mum and vice versa. His whole life he had been conditioned by his dad on how to treat the love of your life and until now Derek had never met anyone who stirred up the feelings that Meredith did for him.

Unlike Meredith he did believe in romance and soul mates. He had seen it first hand with his parents, even the three of his married sisters had indicated that true love was real. He had never actively looked though, he truly believed if something was meant to be it would be and now here was Meredith who had just stumbled into his life. Now that is not to be confused with just waiting for something to happen. He knew that he would have to work to get what he wanted, heck his career had taught him that, but when the green eyed beauty had come along he had felt a new surge of motivation, if only their potential relationship wouldn't cause such drama.

He spotted Meredith first, as if had been drawn to her being. She was sat with the same group she was before except this time there was a brighter blonde and Alex wasn't there. He let his eyes travel up and down her body as she sat there, lingering on the more womanly features that she possessed.

"Derek! Derek! Over here!" Lexie shouted out, claiming his attention.

He made his way over and sat down next to Meredith who happened tp have a seat free next to her.

"Scotch Derek?" Mark asked as soon as he sat down.

"Sure thing."

"Derek this is my girlfriend Arizona," Callie said.

Derek shook hands with the blonde woman, who seemed to be slightly in awe of him, but not for the usual reason women were when they saw him.

"I am such a huge fan of yours. I went to your restaurant in New York when I was last there for a conference and WOW you are a genius, you planned the menu all by yourself?" Arizona gushed out.

Derek chuckled, " yeah I did, I'm a control freak so I have to have final say over everything that goes on in anything I own."

"Don't worry we are all surgeons so ALL control freaks here. You should see us when we used to compete with each other for surgeries right Mer?" Cristina said.

Meredith who was just imagining Derek being controlling over something that wasn't a restaurant snapped out of her gaze and looked at Cristina who was smiling smugly at her as if she knew where Meredith's thoughts had been.

"Hmm?"

"Us, competitive, surgeries," Cristina said, still smug.

"Oh right yeah, we were a handful that's for sure."

"Oh, really what did you use to do?" Derek asked out of genuine curiosity.

" We had a competition on who could get most points over a two week period," Meredith smiled as she reminisced, " I won," she finished with a smirk.

"Only because you practically forced a guy to have a brain tumour," Cristina retorted not at all pleased.

"I did not," she threw a look to Derek who did look confused, " this guy had a complete personality change according to his family, so I took him for tests and he had a tumour pressing on his left frontal lobe."

"Wow," Derek said mesmerized by how amazing this woman was, " what happened?"

" Well he was the inspiration for my trial, curing a particular type of an inoperable tumour which I won't bore you with the details, but he Ummm," she looked away from the blue eyes that were holding her gaze and instead looked down into her drink, "he died in surgery."

The rest of the table had focused their attention on Meredith and Derek's interaction and were eagerly watching for Derek's reaction to Meredith's confession.

Derek lowered his voice and it was filled with comfort and reassuring tones, "I know you did everything you could, bad things happen sometimes and you learn from them. I know you're talented and I've only seen you make cakes so I can't even begin to imagine how amazing you are in the OR," he said genuinely, not breaking eye contact the entire time.

Meredith smiled at his words and decided to change the topic to a lighter conversation.

"Thank you," she started quietly, " now how many restaurants do you have? It should be impressive if you can cause Arizona Robbins to become starstruck," she teased.

Derek laughed, "well I have a restaurant of fine dining restaurants which are currently in 10 different cities in America, then I have bakeries all over, which I've set up as a franchise so people from all over can open bakeries without having the worry of being a sole trader and all the risks that that brings…"

The two continued chatting again oblivious to their audience, even Cristina had been impressed with his reassurance to her best friend. They say in awe of the newly forming couple before their eyes, none of them considering the downsides except Mark and Lexie.

As the conversation spread to include more of the tables occupants, no one noticed the familiar face to walk in the bar with her husband. Liz sat down at the table as her husband went to get drinks, she took in her surroundings as she waited.

"You know you're brothers are here right?" Steve said as he set the drinks down.

"What? " Liz said as she strained her neck to look for the two boys she'd grown up with without actually standing up. " oh no he isn't, she said as her eyes landed on Derek and mark sat at a table with a group of people, one of which was certainly Meredith, who just happened to be the one sat right next to Derek. Just at that moment Derek chose to laugh loudly throwing his head back at something someone (probably Meredith) had said.

"He looks happy," Steve said.

"Mmmm he does but he can't be, not with her," she replied standing up. "I'm going to stop this before it gets too far."

"Lizzie let him be, don't you like seeing him happy, its been a while since I've seen him like this, let him have this," Steve implored not knowing the true reasons behind his wife motives.

"She's a competitor," Liz stated simply before turning on her heel.

Steve sighed, he should know not to correct a Shepherd woman, he felt bad for Derek who had to live with 5 of them growing up. He watched the whole event unfold.

"Derek, Mark hi! Oh, and hi Meredith," Liz said to the table addressing the ones she knew. " You must be Lexie, I'm Lizzie, Derek and Marks favorite sister."

Meredith had frozen not knowing the connection, but feeling ridiculously stupid for not recognizing the similarities the two shared. She smiled tentatively at Liz, not knowing what her reaction would be, it wasn't like it was a rule that she couldn't have a drink with a judge, was it?

Derek sighed inwardly but greeted his sister regardless, hoping she wasn't going to make a scene or worse make him leave Meredith now when he was finally starting to learn more about her.

"Derek, a word about tomorrow please, I don't wanna bore everyone here with production details," Liz said subtly smiling round at everyone.

Derek was relieved that she hadn't made a big deal in front of his new friends. He didn't have many true friends, but these people he had met in the last few days had made him feel welcome and valued, not to mention the fact that they were also of importance to Meredith. He stood up and gave Meredith a reassuring look.

When they were back with Liz's husband Liz got straight to the point.

"WHAT are you doing? Do you know you're being stupid, what if one of the other contestants saw you here and thought you were showing favouritism to Meredith? How would that go down for either of you?"

" Well for one Elizabeth every single one of the contestants can see Meredith is a natural and deserves to be in the competition which is more than I can say for some of them. Like seriously cinnamon and ginger? Thank god he's gone," Derek said, with a smile towards his brother in law to try to reduce the tension he could feel radiating off his sister. The couple didn't need to know the real reason he was glad Finn was gone, regardless the dog walker really could not bake.

"Don't do that Derek, don't downplay that what you're doing isn't wrong." Liz snapped.

"Is in the rulebook? I'm having a drink with my brother and his friends, one of which just happens to be a competitor in the show I'm judging," Derek retorted.

"Derek you could be removed off the show and so could Meredith," pleaded his sister.

"Fine by me," Derek muttered not missing the hurt look that passed by his sisters face. "I didn't mean it like that Lizzie." He looked to Steve for help but received none.

"Derek this is the biggest production I've been asked to do and probably will ever be, you said you'd do it you can't ditch it now," Liz's tone was quieter now.

"What do you want from me Lizzie? you're not going to be penalized for anything I do just because we're related, so what is it you're expecting of me? I'm not allowed to see Meredith until either the show ends or she gets kicked out? Is that what you want?" Derek said exasperated. The very thought of not being able to see the neurosurgeon causing him distress.

Liz looked nervous as she took a breath before saying, "well to be honest Derek it's not going to look good if you start dating even after the show, because when it gets aired people will notice the connection between the two of you…" Liz trailed off.

Derek looked at his sister in disbelief. Steve could see the tension coming from the two siblings.

"Liz, I don't think telling Derek who he can and cannot date is going to be beneficial for either of you, because lets face it you do not have any right to do that," he gave a pointed look at his wife but continued, " but Derek you know what this project means for your sister so maybe that should be taken into consideration." Steve attempted to pacify both of the two raven-haired people sat with him.

Liz and Derek were sat staring at one another, one full of anger, the other with a stubborn look on her face.

"Steve is right Lizzie, you can't tell me what to do and it is none of your business, so stay out of my life. I'm doing this for you and I'm not going to ruin it for you, I do not want this brought up again," Derek finished with an icy tone. He was fed up of the controlling nature of his sisters, he had only recently realized when he had opened his own restaurant of how much a say they had had on the decisions in his life, and he had let them get away with it. They were his family and he loved them, but enough was enough and acting like she could control who he fell in love with was the final straw. Derek stood up and walked away from his two family members toward Meredith.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

Meredith had been worried when Derek left to go talk to his sister, even though the talk was supposedly about production plans, she knew the real subject of the talk.

"So do we think McSister is chewing off his balls for talking with a girl?" Cristina asked the group.

Mark just sighed, but decided not to go over and help his brother, he knew the sisters were domineering particularly with Derek, especially in the last 5 years that they had become fatherless. Mark knew it was only a matter of time before he snapped, he knew Derek better than anyone and once he had set his mind to something he would go after it, that's why Mark had tried giving a different angle to think of when he himself had confronted his brother about his crush.

Meredith was chewing her lip, stressing that Liz would tell Derek not to go anywhere near her anymore, which made her heart sink in her chest. She told Cristina to swap seats with her so she could watch the interaction, which her person did without question, already on the same page.

Whilst the doctors moved on to talk about surgery and annoying interns, Meredith and Mark were watching the interaction going on at the other table. Both were watching the same thing and both were worried, Meredith could see the anger and frustration in Derek, just in the way he was sitting, like he was receiving bad news. Her heart sunk further, and she began to realize her attachment to Derek already with just the thought of not being able to see him.

Eventually, Derek stood up and made his way back to the table, Mark dropped his gaze but Meredith locked eyes with Derek and smiled. She was met with a mirrored smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, he looked troubled and all she wanted to do was comfort him.

He sat down at the table and joined in the conversation. Slowly the occupants began to leave one by one, at some point his sister left as well, until it was just Meredith and Derek left. Who had received pointed looks from Mark but Lexie had ushered him away realizing that the two needed to talk.

There was a silence as they finished there drinks, neither knowing where to start.

"Do you wanna go somewhere?" Meredith quickly asked.

Derek slowly smiled and nodded his head and allowed himself to be led out by Meredith.

"I've only had one drink so I'll be okay to drive, there's somewhere I wanna show you," Meredith explained.

They got into her Jeep wordlessly, the silence not awkward because both were thinking hard about what they needed to say. Meredith drove them to a cliff top which overlooked The Sound which was currently under a blanket of stars and showed only a few lights out in the water. The one night ferry moving slowly in the distance.

"Seattle has ferryboats," Derek stated randomly.

"Seattle is surrounded by water on three sides," Meredith laughed shaking her head. "Come on, there's a perfect spot a bit further closer to the edge."

They got out the car and walked side by side to the bench which stood alone on the grassy bank. Meredith sat and Derek followed her lead, sitting closely to her so their upper bodies were touching.

"Derek I…"

"Meredith.."

They both laughed. Derek let her talk first.

"Derek, I Ummm I don't really know what I'm saying, but what I do want to say to you is that I have not stopped thinking about you ever since joe's bar. The first time that is. I don't know what it means because I have a lot on my mind at the moment and you were not something I had ever factored into the picture but you are, in the picture that is. And um well what I'm trying to say to you is I don't want to cause any problems for you or for your career or your family or whatever, but I like you being in the picture even if you're not fully in focus yet, but I'd like you to be. If that makes sense?"

"Did you know you are very cute when you ramble?" Derek commented moving even closer to her.

"Shut up, this is not something I do like ever, so I'm trying here," Meredith laughed whilst going to smack him. But Derek caught her hand and took it in his. She looked down at where they were connected and smiled widely at him.

"Meredith, I like you too, there is something about you which is enchanting to me, it's like you're a breath of fresh air," Derek said knowing how cheesy he was being.

Meredith giggled, producing the reaction Derek wanted, "Derek that was cheesy."

He smiled and then said seriously "I want to be with you Meredith, I want to take you out on dates and I want to take you home and do things to you that will make you scream for me," Meredith bit her lip at the sudden heat that had filled his eyes, "I want you more than I've ever wanted anything, you amaze me and I've barely known you a week, I want more time with you, just you, so I can get to know you and you can get to know me, and more than anything I don't want this baking competition to get in-between any of that," Derek finished.

"But you're career, won't it be compromised?" Meredith said with a worried tone that made Derek feel a twang in his heart at the realization she really did care about him.

"This competition really has no effect on me or my career at all, I'm only doing it as a favour to my sister, I have no interest in being in the public eye, I just want to cook and bake for people and have them enjoy it," he said sincerely.

"Oh," Meredith was confused, her reason for not being with this gorgeous man was a moot point, he had just solved her problems in one answer.

"But, that being said, if it were to get out, then that could ruin your chances at winning, and I won't do that to you, you deserve a fair shot at this."

Meredith was silent, before she burst out laughing, confusing Derek further.

"Derek I don't care about winning the bake-off."

"I… what?"

"Derek listen, I needed a change of scenery to get some new ideas for work, I don't need the money and I certainly don't want to be stopped in the street or known to my patients as the 'best baker in America'."

"But… I… I don't understand."

"Look, don't worry about me, I like baking and I'm good at it, but I'm a surgeon I chose to be a surgeon, this is a side project to help me with another side project," Meredith tried to convince him.

"But Meredith, you have a gift, I can tell that and we are only one week in, think of how much you can develop your skills in the 9 weeks coming," Derek said still not believing that someone with this much raw talent would just ignore it as if it were being able to tie a shoe.

"Ahahaha thanks but really it just isn't that important to me so I don't mind if I leave next week if it means we get to be together."

Derek wasn't sure whether to be flattered or insulted. That she was willing to give up her chances to win the competition for him or that she thought that his industry wasn't important enough for her.

"So what I do…" He tried to straighten it in his mind what she was trying to say. " my field that I work on isn't as important as surgery?"

Meredith looked at him in shock, seeing her mistake. She yanked her hand away from him and he winced at the loss of contact with her, but turned to face him completely so she could look into his eyes.

"No Derek, god No," she started with, "I'm sorry I didn't mean it to come off that way, I have never thought that what I do is more important than what someone else does, let alone that someone else being you. Derek, I love baking its one of my favourite things to do, what I meant was that I don't need validation for it, without trying to sound like a complete ass I know I'm good, sure I could learn more but I'm perfectly content with being able to make amazing cakes for my family and that's it," she stammered out hoping she hadn't just ruined her chances.

Derek smiled at her confession, "I think you should stay in the contest as long as you can, because you are so talented Mer," he cupped her cheek and she unconsciously leant into it, "because you Meredith Grey are extraordinary and you can achieve anything you want to, whether its a baking contest or curing inoperable tumours."

Meredith felt her eyes prick with tears at his kind words, and before she knew it she was leaning in closer him. He reciprocated her movements. Both paused right before their lips touched staring into one another eyes trying to memorize this moment. They moved closer so their lips met and shut their eyes to enjoy the sensation. Derek moved his hand to cradle the back of her head pulling her against him, he used his other arm to take her waist so their bodies were pressing together. He ran his tongue over her lips, asking for entrance, which she happily granted. Their kiss was slow and sensual, both just enjoying and savoring the moment. Meredith moved her hands up into his hair, something she'd been dying to do since they'd met. At the gesture Derek pulled her onto of him so she was straddling his lap, he ran his hands up and down her back trying to bring her even closer. Their mouths met over and over again, neither stopping because they never wanted it to end.

When it came to the point where they needed oxygen, they rested their foreheads together eyes closed panting at the act they had just finished.

"So what does this mean?" Meredith finally asked. Unsure of the protocol, she looked so unsure and worried Derek just moved her so she was sat next to him pressed up against his side, he put his arm around her and kissed her forehead. She closed her eyes as she rested her head on his shoulder, feeling perfectly content in that moment, ignoring everything else.

"I don't know Meredith, I don't know," Derek murmured, looking out into the distance he never wanted to move from this spot ever again. He would be quite content with Meredith in his arms forever.


End file.
